Single episode of heavy drinking tied to Brain Atrophy in Young Adults: Study
A new study suggests that a single episode of extreme drinking in young adults may be linked to almost immediate structural brain atrophy.The study has been published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
Adolescence and emerging adulthood are known to represent critical stages for brain development, involving heightened vulnerability to the toxic effects of drinking. Chronic alcohol use among young adults is associated with structural brain abnormalities, especially in the corpus callosum, which transfers information between brain hemispheres — a key function in learning and memory. Preclinical research in rodents suggests that a single drinking episode might result in brain atrophy. However, it was unclear whether and how a single episode of extreme drinking in young adults could affect brain structure. The study, assessed participants before and after a single episode of extreme drinking — consuming more than four to five alcohol-containing beverages in a single episode — scanning the brain for changes.
Fifty undergraduate students underwent an MRI scan less than two weeks before their 21st birthday celebrations — an occasion when many Americans drink heavily. A few days after their celebrations, they had a second MRI scan and were interviewed about their alcohol use. Researchers used drink-by-drink reconstruction to estimate the participants' peak blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) during the celebrations and identify who had experienced an alcohol-induced blackout. Five weeks later, investigators re-scanned 29 students. They used statistical analysis to explore associations between alcohol use during the celebrations, the MRI findings, and the students' histories of drinking and cannabis use.
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